The 1986 Chernobyl disaster remains one of the most catastrophic nuclear accidents in history, instigating many questions decades later, including what it was like living in Pripyat before the explosion.
This location became a ghost town after the accident, built in the early 1980s to house plant workers and their families. Photographs from that time reveal a vibrant, modern town with winter scenes and daily life moments. Rare images from this period provide a glimpse into what was abruptly lost after the nuclear power plant exploded.
These 16 rare photos were found on Reddit and help us understand the stark contrast between life before and after the disaster.
My father and two fellow interns, 4th Reactor, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 1986
(Source: Reddit)
Building the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, USSR, 1982
(Source: Reddit)
Kid poses with ''Mickey Mouse'' in Pripyat in 1980, six years before the Chernobyl disaster.
(Source: Reddit)
Pripyat before
(Source: Reddit)
Before And After (Pripyat)
(Source: Reddit)
Before and after Block 4
(Source: Reddit)
Central hall before the explosion.
(Source: Reddit)
Pripyat before the accident
(Source: Reddit)
HPV-2 firefighters before Chernobyl
(Source: Reddit)
Photographs from the winter in Pripyat before the disaster
(Source: Reddit)
Photographs from the winter in Pripyat before the disaster pt.2
(Source: Reddit)
Photographs from the winter in Pripyat before the disaster pt.3
(Source: Reddit)
The Pripyat fire department before the accident
(Source: Reddit)
The last photo taken of units 3 and 4 before the 1986 disaster
(Source: Reddit)
Picture of Pripyat before it was built
(Source: Reddit)
Rare photograph of Pripyat before the explosion.
(Source: Reddit)